Forty of the 60 main fish species caught commercially in the northeast Atlantic are being scooped up faster than they can replenish themselves, according to a report to be released later this week at a meeting of the international Ospar Commission, which is charged with protecting the marine environment around Europe. The report also found that as quotas are imposed on traditional catches like cod and haddock, the fishing fleets of developed nations are increasingly chasing deep-water species and pushing their numbers down as well. In addition to concerns about overfishing, delegates to the Ospar meeting will discuss chemical pollution of the seas and radioactivity from nuclear facilities.
